Three Important Advancements in the Campaign for a UNPA

Andreas Bummel
Founder of Democracy without Borders and Coordinator of the Campaign for a UN Parliamentary Assembly (CUNPA)

On 7 November 2018, a group of elected representatives was established through an international online meeting with the goal to promote the establishment of a United Nations Parliamentary Assembly. The new Parliamentary Group for a UNPA adopted a call-to-action warning that “the United Nations, the multilateral order and democracy are under attack”.

The declaration urges the UN and its member governments to take steps towards the creation of a UNPA in order to address the UN’s democratic deficit. It refers to a statement by former UN Secretary-General Boutros Boutros-Ghali who said that “we need to promote the democratization of globalization, before globalization destroys the foundations of national and international democracy.”

The meeting elected five co-presidents: Fernando Iglesias, Member of the Chamber of Deputies of Argentina; Daniel Jositsch, Senator from Switzerland; Jo Leinen, Member of the European Parliament from Germany; Naveed Qamar, Member of the National Assembly of Pakistan; and Ivone Soares, Member of the National Assembly of Mozambique and the Pan-African Parliament.

“Democracy currently stops at national borders”

“Democracy currently stops at national borders. At the global level, the United Nations brings together diplomats appointed by member state governments. There is no UN body composed of democratically elected representatives. As a consequence, the UN reaches serious limits when it comes to finding solutions for global problems. Take climate change as an example. There has been little progress for decades” said Senator Daniel Jositsch who chaired the meeting.

Other initial members of the group include, among others, Ireland's Thomas Broughan, Jens Holm from Sweden, Smári McCarthy from Iceland, Florence Mutua from Kenya, Achyuta Samanta from India, Lilia Puig de Stubrin from Argentina and Nomsa Tarabella-Marchesi from South Africa.

Group members already in action

Responding to a question posed by Thomas Broughan in the Irish Parliament this week, Irish foreign minister Simon Coveney responded again that Ireland was “open-minded” on the UNPA proposal. Together with four other parliamentarians, Smári McCarthy these days re-introduced a resolution in the Icelandic Parliament calling for support of a UNPA.

Previously, with the involvement of group members Fernando Iglesias, Jo Leinen and Ivone Soares, respectively the Latin-American Parliament, the Parliament of Mercosur, both chambers of the Argentine Parliament, the European Parliament and the Pan-African Parliament endorsed the proposal.

In addition, the international campaign for a UNPA so far was endorsed by over 1,500 current and former individual members of parliament. The new parliamentary group aims at building “the political momentum and pressure that is needed to achieve our goal”.

“The creation of a Parliamentary Group for a UNPA is another step forward in the way towards a world parliament, global democracy, a stronger UN and a fairer and more peaceful world”, commented Fernando Iglesias.

A declaration adopted unanimously at the 42nd Plenary Assembly of the World Federation of United Nations Associations (WFUNA) held in Punta Cana, Dominican Republic, on 21 October 2018 supports “steps towards the creation of a United Nations Parliamentary Assembly”. The declaration explains further that the new UN body should be attached to the UN General Assembly and allow for “formal participation of parliamentarians in the work of the UN.”

The resolution that was jointly proposed by the UN Associations of Germany, Denmark, South Africa and the United Kingdom states that the UN “must address the democratic deficit within global decision-making processes”, if it is to be successful “in the pursuit of creating a better world for all and ensuring that no one is left behind.”

“We hope that a UNPA will strengthen the democratic legitimacy of the UN,” commented UNA-Germany's board member Hannah Birkenkötter in Punta Cana. Ben Donaldson, the Head of Campaigns at UNA-UK said that “we need a world organisation that truly represents the world. A UNPA would be a major step towards this goal.”

The resolution adopted at the world congress says further that there should be “an open and inclusive intergovernmental preparatory process under the auspices of the UN General Assembly for a UN 2020 Summit that considers comprehensive reform measures, including the creation of a UN Parliamentary Assembly.”

The document acknowledges the ongoing international Campaign for a UNPA that has received the support of more than 1,500 members of parliament across party lines, among others. It also refers to endorsements of a UNPA by the European Parliament, the Latin-American Parliament and the Pan-African Parliament.

“The World Federation of United Nations Associations not only brings together the world's strongest supporters of the UN, but also those who perhaps have the best understanding of how the world organization operates. Their call for a UN Parliamentary Assembly has great significance,” said Andreas Bummel, the UNPA Campaign's Secretary-General. “The pressure on the UN and its member states to finally consider this proposal is growing,” he stated.

Moreover, a postulate submitted on the end of November by Daniel Jositsch, a member of the Swiss Senate from Zurich, instructs the federal government of Switzerland to report on whether it perceives a democratic deficit to exist at the United Nations and whether “the creation of a parliamentary assembly within the UN” may be an appropriate step to address such a deficit. The document explains that the suggested new body may be understood “in the sense of a second chamber that represents the population, analogous to the Swiss system.”

The explanatory statement of the initiative, supported by all 46 members of the upper chamber of Switzerland's parliament, stresses that the structure of the UN still reflects the situation after the Second World War. The document points out, however, that the situation has changed and that the structures of the UN established at the time “cannot last forever.” It goes on to say that it is necessary to democratize the world organization. According to Jositsch and the other Senators, Switzerland could play “an important role” in this process “as a neutral small state with its two-chamber system, which attaches special importance to the cantons in the structure of the state.” In particular, the question arises “whether a parliamentary assembly could be considered as a supplement to today's United Nations General Assembly”.

The initiative refers to a resolution of the European Parliament of July, calling on the governments of the European Union to pursue the establishment of a parliamentary assembly at the UN (UNPA).

“The worsening crisis in international cooperation shows that new ways must be found to combat global problems”, Jositsch welcomed the resolution at the time. The Senator is Co-President of an international parliamentary group for a UNPA that was created last month. Worldwide the international campaign for a UNPA was supported so far by more than 1,500 parliamentarians.

It is not the first time that Swiss parliamentarians draw international attention with an initiative concerning a UNPA. In February 2005, a majority of the National Council and the Senate called on the then UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan to include the proposal into the official reform agenda of the United Nations.

In his reaction to the decision of the European Parliament, Jositsch stressed that now “concrete implementation measures” are needed.